Not that Hard
by TinySlippers
Summary: A Cinderella story. No fairy god mother. No magic. Just the determination and will of one teenage girl.
1. Chapter 1

Not That Hard

It wasn't that hard. She had more than enough fabric to make herself a dozen dresses. She had to sew all her sisters' clothes for them in order to save money. But no one ever noticed if she bought a few extra samples. No one even noticed if she bought an extra bolt.

The pattern was simple. So simple that all it took was a few extra minutes every night for a couple weeks.

So she did take some fabric from the bolts that held her step-siblings fabric. So they would think that she stole from them when she didn't.

But when it was done she made another. She knew that she had to get out of that place. She just had to. And a dress just might be the answer.

Shoes were a little harder. She had incredibly small feet. She couldn't just buy any shoes, they were all too big. And her regular ones were too dirty and worn out for a grand occasion. But she did have one pair of her mother's old slippers. White and beaded, they held onto a beauty of ages gone by.

She cradled them softly to her as she sat in her room. The attic was her sanctuary, even if the elements did invade every so often.

They deserved a dress that matched them. So she began planning.

The dress would take until the ball to make. She'd have to be even more secretive about this. It was her back up if they didn't take her with them. But she needed white fabric, and beads.

* * *

>For the third time that week, and it was only Monday, she tied her sheets together. Perhaps Dan could help her.<p><p>

Dan saw her coming down the road. The back way. She must have gotten in trouble again.

"So, how fares the fair maiden today?" he asked.

She couldn't resist smiling at his remark. "Sometimes I think that you're too smart for your own good," she said.

"Only sometimes?"

"Fine," she relented. "Most of the time."

"Better," he started. "But, it could be even better."

"That's as much as I'm giving you." She was happy that he had distracted the conversation from her, without her having to say as much as a word. That wasn't entirely true, she had said a few things.

They started walking back to the town.

"You still haven't told me why you're her," Dan mentioned casually.

She sighed. It was hard to talk to him about her home life.

"Cindy."

"You know that I hate being called that, Dan."

"So what are you here for Cynthia?"

"Fabric."

"As always."

* * *

>"You know me. Can't get enough of the stuff."<p><p>

Back in her room Cynthia sat and pondered. This dress, if done right, just might get her noticed by some lord and away from here. It just might. The pattern looked hard but she knew that it wasn't that hard.

Nothing was as hard as it seemed.


	2. Chapter 2

"And you're completely sure that you want to do this?" he asked her.

"Dan," she said. "What choice do I have? I can either find a place that I can deal with here, or I can continue to be a slave in my own house."

Dan looked at Cynthia and inwardly sighed. She looked amazing. Her brown hair was curled ever so slightly that it framed her face. Her sapphire eyes sparkled with the torch light from the guards on the path. He knew that she felt like he was her best friend, because he was. But he also knew that he would never be anything more to her. No matte how hard he tried she would never feel the way he felt about her.

"You could always stay at my house," he said for the thousandth time. He had almost given up hope of her ever saying yes, but he couldn't help but offer.

"Dan," she started, almost reluctantly. "We've been over this a thousand times. I couldn't feel comfortable with myself living off of your hospitality."

"But you wouldn't be," he protested. "Mother would put you to work for sure. She might even pay you and then have you pay board."

"Your mother would do something like that." Dan noticed how hard she tried to keep her voice carefree and upbeat but a bit of nostalgia had crept in. She smoothed her skirt over her lap.

"Let's not think about anything that will make you unhappy right now. Right now, I've got the most beautiful girl in the kingdom to escort."

Dan stepped out of the carriage and then gently lifted Cynthia out and set her down.

"Why did you do that?" she hissed.

"I couldn't let you get out all by yourself, now could I?" he teased. "Besides, I didn't agree to bring you here to have you ignore me."

"Of course not."

Cynthia took Dan's arm and he led her up the stairs. "Now go have fun," he told her. "I'll be waiting by the gate at midnight. You know how my parents are about my curfew."

"I do. Now you have fun too."

Cynthia took a deep breath and walked into the ballroom. As soon as she did she knew that she had made a mistake. There were so many people in there. A spectacle of colours and jewels that just wasn't right for her. She truly was a country girl even if she hadn't been born to it.

She slipped past most of the people when she saw the prince. He looked incredibly bored. _I'd be bored too if I had to meet all these girls, _she thought to herself. She tried to slip out of the door to the side of the ballroom, the one that led to the garden, but she felt someone's eyes on her back.

She managed to make it to the grass before she felt semi free from whoever it was that had been looking at her. She shivered once as she thought about it. Even though she hadn't been able to see who it was that had been looking at her she still felt as though it was more than just a curious glance.

"I'm sorry to disturb you, but I can't help but think that I've seen you somewhere before."

Cynthia glanced up. The first thing she noticed was his eyes, they seemed open and honest.

"I don't believe that I've ever had the pleasure of meeting you,"she replied.

"My name is Chaim."

She then noticed that he was dressed exceedingly well to be a guard. Too well, he must be a noble.

"Chaim." It had a nice ring to it.

He shook his head. "I know that it most likely sounds a little weird, but would you please call me Chase?"

"Chase?" the confusion in Cynthia's voice must have been obvious.

"I was called that for most of my life. It feels more like my real name than Chaim even if that is what I truly was christened."

Cynthia's heart went out to this man. He didn't like the name that people wanted to call him.

"My name is Cynthia," she said. "My best friend, Dan, calls me Cindy. But, to be honest, I can't stand it."

"Well Cynthia," Chase said. "It sounds like we have something in common."

"It does," she started. "But I must ask, if you're noble... Why are you out in the garden?"

"Because, my parents specifically insisted that I come to this ridiculous event. And to be honest, I have spent more time in the country than I have here with my parents. Outside is more my home."

Cynthia stood there with her mouth slightly open. He had to be the prince. No other noble, at least none that she knew of, had sent their child away for an extended period of time.

"Then, you're, you, you are..."

"The prince, I know. It's why all these girls are here. But right now I'd like to ask _you_ to dance."

It shouldn't have been so hard for her to say no. She hadn't come to fall for the prince. As much as she felt that she needed to escape from her life, she hadn't intended to seduce the prince. Compared to the other girls she looked incredibly plain. She had on the most fancy dress that she could sew in a week, and that she could smuggle out of her house. He shouldn't be falling for her.

"I'd love to," the words floated out of her mouth. It wasn't that hard, not that hard at all, to say something. It was only the wrong something. Something that she had never intended to happen.


End file.
